Railway-tie and fastener.



W. A. LOCKARD.

RAILWAY TIE AND FASTENER.

APPLICATION FILED IAN. 7l I9I5.

1,137,990. Patented May 4, 1915.

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WILLIAM ALONZA LOCILARD, 0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIG-NOR OF ONE- HALF IO ARTHUR E. STANGE, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

RAILWAY-TIE AND FASTENER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 4, 1915.

Application led January 7, 1915. Serial No. 1,038.

T0 all whom it may concern Be it lmown that I, WILLIAM A. LoCKARD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements 1n Railway-Ties and Fasteners; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates broadly to improvements in railway ties and fasteners and more particularly to those employing wedges `for clamping the rails in position upon the ties.

The main object of the invention is to provide a comparatively simple device of this character with the parts so constructed and arranged, as to allow channel iron ties to be employed, certain parts being so d1sposed as to effectively brace the upright' flanges of these ties to prevent canting thereof.

As is usual with devices of this character, the wedges are equipped with means whereby they may be locked in adjusted position, and a further object of the invention 1s to so construct this means as to allow it to assist in effecting the clamping action upon the rails.

With the above and minor objects in view, the invention resides in certain novel features of construction and combination herein described and claimed and shown in the drawings wherein Figure l is a top plan view of a tie and fastener constructed in accordance with this invention, showing its application to use; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section as seen along the plane of the line 2--2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of the wedges; Fig. 4L is a similar' view of one of the bridge plates to be described; Fig. 5 is a vertical transverse section as seen on the line 5 5 of Fig. 2; Fig. 6 is a detail longitudinal section showing the application of a modilied form of bridge plate.; Fig. 7 is a perspective view of this modified detail.

In thesedrawings, constituting a part of this application, the numeral l designates a channel iron railway tie whose side flanges 2 are provided with pairs of obliquely alined notches 3 in their upper edges, a pair of these notches being located at each end of the tiel By reference to the various figures of the drawings, it will be seen that all of these notches 3 are provided with flat horizontal bottom walls and with undercut downwardly diverging end walls, this structure being preferable for reasons to be set forth.

Extending transversely from the notches 3 in one fiange 2 to those in the opposite iange, is a pair of bridge plates 4L whose ends are bent downwardly into contact with the outer sides of the flanges 2 as seen at 5 1n Figs. I and 5. These plates form supports for the rails R which rest upon their intermediate portions as shown in Figs. 2 and 6, rail clamping wedges 10 being then inserted between the rails and the undercut end walls of the notches 3. These wedges rest upon the bridge plates 4 and have Y downwardly diverging outer edges lwhich contact closely with the undercut endy walls, while their inner edges lie parallel tol each other and are shaped to abut the bases of the rails shown.

By employing the construction so far described, when the wedges 10 are driven forcibly into place, they not only grip the rails R and hold the same against any possible shifting, but they tend to reinforce the side flanges 2 to prevent them from tilting laterally in respect to the base of the tie, this being due to the fact that the upper ends of the end walls of the notches 3 overlie the inclined outer edges of the wedges, and in order for such tilting of the Hanges to take place, it would be necessary for these upper ends of the end walls to move downwardly. It will be obvious, however, that such downward movement is impossible and that the side flanges 2 are therefore effectively reinforced, it being therefore possible to use lighter material than has heretofore been employed for such purposes.

In order to relieve unnecessary strain from the end walls of the notches 3, and to retain the central portions of the wedges 10 in binding contact with the rails, said wedges are equipped with additional wedging means, these means being here shown in the form of bolts 2O and slots 25, the latter being formed longitudinally of the wedges 10 and lying parallel to their outer edges, while the former rise through the bridge plate 4L and through said slots, their upper ends being equipped with clamping nuts 30. By this means, when the wedges are driven into forced into contact with the rails, this Abeing due to the fact that the inner walls of the slots contact with theinner sides of the bolts, said inner sides of said slots thereby constituting supplemental wedging faces at the centers of the wedges l0. This is likewise an important feature of the invention for obvious reasons, and furthermore, because the bolts 20 likewise act as means for clamping the wedges 10 against movement when the nuts 30 are tightened thereon.

In Figs. 6 and 7, a slightly different form of bridge plate 4', is shown which, in addition yto the downturned endl iianges 5", is provided with side flanges 5 wiich rise from the sideA edges of said late and converge upwardly, these side 'anges contacting withV the downwardly diverging outer edges of the wedges 10 and constituting still other wedging surfaces.

From the foregoing connection withthe accompanying drawings, it will be seenv that a comparatively simple tie and fastener has been provided, yet that thev device will be very efficient i-n operation and may be easily and inexpensively manufactured.

I claim: .y

1. The combination with a railway tie having means to abut one side of a rai-l, andv a pair of shouldersspaced from each other longitudinally ofthe rail vand spaced unequal distances from the other side of the description, taken inv latter, of a longitudinally disposed wedge interposed between said shoulders and the rail, a supplemental wedge carried by theV central portion of the first named wedge and located between the two shoulders, and a rigid projection disposed in Contact with the outer edge of the supplemental wedge.

Q.. The combination with a railway tie having means to abut one side of a rail, and a pair of shoulders spaced from each other longitudinally of the rail and spaced* unequal distances from the other side of the latter, of a longitudinally disposed wedge interposed between said shoulders and the rail, and having a longitudinal slot lying parallel to and disposed near its outer edge, and a projection rising from the tie'into said slot.

3. The combination with a railway tie having means to abut one side of a rai-l, and

a pair of shouldersspaced from each otherV longitudinally of the rail and spaced unlatter, of a longitudinally disposed wedge interposed between said shoulders and the rail, said wedge having a longitudinal slot lying parallel to and disposed near its outer edge, a rigid bolt rising from the tie through the slot, and a'clamping vnut on said bolt.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM ALONZA LOCKARD.

lVitnesses f ARTHUR E. STANGE,

JOHN DUNN.

Gnies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

kequal distances from the other side of the f 

